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Show I gJllMnint'l'lIHniUMIIIIIIIII1IHIIIllllHIIIHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHllllllMllliiHiHiiiH ! HARRIET i PIPER I I By KATHLEEN NORMS I riliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilllllllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii MiiiniMiiiniiinii i;ni,iMilii:ii:::;;ii::i:ii,.:r'.;nii 2 CHAPTER XIV Continued. 14 "I remember feeling tlmt wnyl" .Ittchnrd commented, mildly, ns she paused. I "Well," Hnrrlet mild, "I met Iloynl Hlondln onq night He lived In our town Wntcrtown. He hnd n drendful. , artificial sort of mother; My sister didn't npprovc of her nt nil. A friend of hlH named Street wns nn nrtlst, and he hnd n nice little wife, nnd n bnhy, nnd they lived In n big, bnrnllkc sort of studio. It Reenicd wonderful to me. They loved ench other, nnd their bnhy, but they were so free I They would luive the whole crowd to dinner, twenty of us, bread nnd red wine nnd macaroni nnd music nnd tnlk; It was' wonderful or I thought sol It wns so different from Linda's Idens, of frosted luyer-cake, and chopped nuts, and Five Hundred. I loved the studio, and they they nil loved me, nnd he Iloynl loved mo especially. He ilsed to talk about Yogi philosophy nnd Oriental religions and poetry, nnd nft-er nft-er awhile It was understood among them nil that he- loved me, and I him. And we were engnged. Of course l.lnda snspectcd, and there wns opposition oppo-sition at home, but In the studio, help' Ing the Streets gct their suppers, It seemed so right so simple I Iloynl wiiil he did not believe In the orthodox ceremony of marrlnge. lie argued that no one could live up to Its promises, nnd I believed him. Miriam Street, the artist's wife, was a poet, and she wrote the ceremony by which we were married. We had a big supper, nnd they were all there, nnd this poem this marriage poem wns benutlful. It wns published In a mngazlnc, nfter-ward, nfter-ward, and called 'A Marrlnge for True Lovers.' It had a part for the woman to say, and n part for the mnn, mid Iloynl and I said those, nnd then It hnd a part for the woman's friend, and the man's friend, and for nil their friends. And then there wns a promise that when love failed on cither side, the two were free, to keep the memory of the perfect love unstained by the ugly years." She paused; Richard did not speak. She had told him this much In u simple, sim-ple, childish voice, a voice that was an echo of that old time, he knew. Presently Pres-ently she went on : "There was music, nnd then they all kissed me, and we hnd supper, nnd they drnnlc our heulth. I went bnck that night to my sister's; Iloynl stayed with his mother. We plnnned ' to go nwny on our honeymoon the next day. I did not tell LIndn and Fred that il considered myself mnrrled. I knew they would not understand and would try to Interfere. "The next morning I slipped nwny from the house with my suitcase, nnd I met Koynl Rlnmlln downtown. Wo motored to Syracuso and took a train v there for New York. I had felt sick when I awakened It wns pnrtly excitement, ex-citement, nnd partly the supper the 1 night before, whon we had all eaten m and drunk too much. Hut I wns very j sick In the train, I thought I wns going 9 to die. Iloynl persuaded me to eat my 3 lunch In the dining car, and that only 8! made me worse. There was a nice ,3 woman in the train, with two little Jj girls, nnd she took care of me. And H when she got to New York I hnd told ") Remember Feeling That Way!" I Richard Commented, Mildly, as She ,' Paused. i i her that I wns on my wedding Journey, Vl perhaps that made her kind she A tmik us to her boarding house In West Forty-sixth street. The landlady was M a dear, good woman, a Mrs. Ilarrlng-M Ilarrlng-M ton. nnd I was very sick by this timet M she put me Into her own room, bell be-ll cause the house was full, and sent for Jpg Iter own doctor. fig "It was a time of horror," Harriot Wt faid, Mulling a little, after a moment of fjj thought. ".The strange women and the KH t range room, and Royal coming In ifl with (lowers, and sitting beside me. iB The doctor said It was u touch of'pol-P of'pol-P foiling, and I wns Ill-only a few days. f Tut the homesickness, and the strange ness I Somehow, I didn't feel married. I felt like a lost little girl. I wanted to be back In Linda's kitchen ngntn, safe, nnd scolding because nothing Interesting In-teresting ever happened. "Well, I was sick for three or four days. It was the fourth day when I was well enough to go out. Iloynl thanked them, and paid Mrs. Harrington Harring-ton nnd the doctor nnd we went to lunch downtown It was at Martin's, I remember, and Iloynl was so excited and Interested In everything. Hut I still felt limp nnd dull. Wc shopped nnd went about seeing things after lunch, nnd then we went to the hotel where he was staying. We were registered regis-tered there as Mr. and Mrs. Illondln ; It wns all quite taken for granted." Harriet stopped; her faco wns drawn and white, her words coming with dllllculty, the phrases brief and dry. Richard was paying her absolute attention, his eyes fixed upon her fnce. "Wc had dinner upstulrs," she suld. She paused, her lips, tight pressed. "I can't tell you," she began again, suddenly, "I can't tell you how It wns that I came suddenly to know that I was too young.for marriage.! In Miriam Street's little studo, whero they were laughing about the baby and the supper, sup-per, It seemed different. Hut here, in n hotel, I suddenly wanted my sister, I wanted to be home again. "Wb were talking nnd planning naturally enough. Iloynl wns coming and going in the two rooms; I hnd plenty of chance to to escape. Every time I let one go by my heart beat harder." He could tell from her voice thnt her heart was beating hard now with tho memory of thnt old time. "If I had let them all go by," she recommenced, re-commenced, "my life would have been different. In n few weeks wo would have come bnck to Wntcrtown, as mnn and wife, nnd perhnps had a studio near the Streets', and perhaps found n solution. Uut I couldn't I "I cnught up my coat; left my lint and bng. I went down the stnlrs, not daring to wnit for the elevntor. And I went to Mrs. Hnrrlngton's. She was very kind nnd took me In; she said that perhaps it would be better' to wait until I wns older. I cried all night, and the next day Mrs. Harrington lent me the money nnd I went back to Linda. "Of course, It was terrible, at first. Hut they were kind to me, In their way. And I wus cured. I went Into hysterics at the tlrst mention of the whole hideous thing. They saw Hoy, and they told me thnt I need never see him iguln. The pnpers for It got to the papers I suld that n divorce had been arranged, but there was no need for a divorce. It was all hushed up Linda and Fred never spoke of It. I nh, well. I couldn't I "Hut when Fred's brother, David, who was In dentnl college then, began to like me, then they began to mnko light of It," Hnrrlet remembered. "There had been no marriage, of course, either in law or in fact. They all knew thnt. And I suppose if I had married David it might liuve been happier hap-pier for mo. Hut ns It wns, I lingered them. I didn't want to marry David. And so it wns whnt folly girls got themselves Into whnt the world thought of a girl who laid been 'tnlked about' what the least breath of scandal scan-dal menntl" "And yon went bnck to Hlondln?" Illchard suggested. "I? No, I never saw him ngaln until n yeur ago in this garden!" Hurrlet said. "You never saw him ngaln !" the mnn ejaculated. "Not for nine years I" "Hut my God, my dear girl., he spoke of you as his wife I" Illchard said. "He said I had been. Not that I was now I" The mnn looked nt her, looked away at the river, nnd shrugged his shoulders shoul-ders as If he were mystified by the ways of women. "Hut you were never his wife?" he tfuld, Hatly. "Oh, no! Vou didn't think," Hnrrlet said, hurt, "that I would have mnrrled you. or anyone else, If I had been !" "You let him hliiCKiuull you for thnt 7" Itlchard further mnrveled. "1 knew In my own mind, of course, thnt I was not to blame," the girl said, anxiously. "Hut It sounded horrible." Itlchard bit bis lower Up, looked critically at his racket, slowly shook his head. "I didn't mind whnt nny one thought," Hurrlet snld, reading his thought. "Hut they did!" "They?" Itlchard repented, patiently. "Everyone," she supplied, promptly. "Your wife, your mother, Mary Put-nam Put-nam ! Even Mrs. Tabor." "I suppose so!" lie conceded, after a pause, And beneath his breath he added, add-ed, "Isabelle Ida Tabor I" His tone was all she asked of eo nulsltc reassurance. "I hoped you wouldn't !" she said, standing up with clasped hands and n sudden brightening of her tired nnd colorless col-orless face. "That's what I tried to make myself believe you would feel 1 I wanted so to leave all behind, . I though) he had gone, that It was all over, tlmt what It was muttered more thuu wUnt It sounded like I I thought I could save Nlnn better, with whnt I knew, than any ono else I Hut last nlghl,"' Harriet added, "proved to me that I had been nil wrong. I've been so worried," she ndded, with utter faith in his decision. "I don't know whnt you think we had better do." For a full minute Illchnrd wutched her In silence. Then ho snld, mildly: "About Nlnn, you menn?" "About evcrythlpgl" Hnrrlet suddenly sudden-ly laughed gnlly, like n child. Lire seemed once more straight nnd pleasant pleas-ant In this exquisite Juno morning; she felt puzzled, but somehow no longer long-er nfrntd. Tho mennclng horrors of nil And She Tried by a Very Faint Stirring Stir-ring of Her Fingers to Free Them, and Finding Them Held, Dropped Her Eyes Again. the ycurs, the vague unenslncss thnt she hnd never quite dnrcd to fnce, were fluttering nhout her awakening spirit like Alice's pack of cards. "Nina will come Into line," her fn-ther fn-ther said, thoughtfully; "she doesn't know whnt she wants. I wish I wish he loved her I" he added, with a faint frown. "I'll see him about It again. We'll tako her to Illo. She'll get over It." "And" Harriet stopped, and began again : "And do you wnnt things to go on Just ns they nre?" she nsked. For answer Illchnrd smiled at her In silence. "No," ho snld, finally. "I can't sny thnt I do. I want you to worry less, and to buy yourself some new gowns, and to begin to enjoy life I Shnke-spearo Shnke-spearo had you down fine when he Uilked nbout .conscience making cow-ards cow-ards of us all. What did you do It for? A young, capable, good-looking girl senred by a lot of old women 1 Now, we'll tnko up this Nlnn question, Inter on. You'd better go up and get yourself your-self some coffee, nnd go to bed for awhile. Better plan to be In town for u dny or two, for you'll both need clothes for the stenmei" " "You're very kind," the girl snld, eyes averted, voice almost Inaudible. They were both standing now, Harriet's head turned aside, so that he could not see her face, but her soft fingers resting In his. "I'm not kind at all 1"' Illchnrd said, with a rather confused laugh. Ho pat-led pat-led her hand encouragingly. "The sea (rip will shnke both you nnd Nlnn up, and do you n world of good I" he said. "You think" Harriet raised the soft, dark lashes, and her splendid, weary eyes met his. "You really aren't worried about Nlnu?" And she tried by n very faint stirring of her lingers to free them nnd, finding them held, dropped her eyes ngaln. "I think I have Hlondln's number," Illchard said, with more force than eloquence. elo-quence. Then, with u little laugh that was partly ninused und partly embarrassed, embar-rassed, he let her go. Ho watched the young, slender figure fig-ure and the shining, bare head until they disappeared among the great trees about the house. CHAPTER XV. The summer Sunday ran Its ustiul course. Ward und his sister went to luncheon ut the club; Miidunie (tarter drove majestically to a late service In the pretty, vine-covered village church. Hurrlet, tit last able to relax in soul and body, slept hour after glorious hour. Itlchard, returning from golf for ii late luncheon, usked for her. Mrs. Carter was still asleep, Hottomley as-sured as-sured him, and. received orders not to disturb her. Hut when Mr. Hlondln called, Illchard told the butler, he was to he shown to the terrace at once, "I had your message," ltoyal snld, ns nn opening. "You've not seen Nina today?" Nina's Ni-na's father usked. "I broke an engiigement with her nt the riub," the other man assured him. "We will probubly meet at the, Hel-laiiiys', Hel-laiiiys', nt dinner this evening." "Ah. It wus about, that I wished to speak." illchard paused, mid Hlondln , watched him with polite Interest. iiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuii ir "You hnve held your knowledge of Mrs. Carter as n sort of weapon for some tuonths," Itlchard suld, presently, "to uso It when you snw lit. I hnve al-wuys al-wuys been lti my wife's conlldence " IIo paused, but for no reason that Hlondln could divine. As a matter of fact, It gave Illchnrd n sudden and unexpected un-expected pleasure to speak of her so, to realize that he really might gtvc the most wonderful title In tho world to this beautiful and spirited woman. ' "And I hnvo also talked with Nlnn this morning," he went on. "I regret to say that her Intentions hnve nut altered." al-tered." "A loynl little heart 1" Illondln snld, gravely nnd contentedly. "I know I could depend upon hcrl" "I snld I wanted to sec you on business, busi-ness, Mr, Hlondln,'1 Illchard continued, trying to keep Impatience nnd contempt con-tempt out of his voice, "nnd we'll keep to business. I don't know whnt your circumstances are, of course" Ho hesitated, nnd Hlondln looked ut him with n fnlnt Interest. "I live simply," he snld. "Nina's money will be nil her own." "Nlnu will have np money, not one five-cent piece, for exnetly three yenrsl" Illchnrd snld. Hlondln shrugged. ' "She Is quite willing to try It I" ho reminded her father. "I know she Is! Hut how nhout you?" Illchnrd nsked. "You nra not n boy, you hnvo some Iden of whnt mnr-rlago mnr-rlago means. For threo years you must take euro of her, dress her, amuse her, satisfy her thnt she bus not made n mistake. Then she does come Into her money yes. Hut three ycurs Is a long tlino In which to keep Iter ccrtnln thnt tho wisest thing she can do Is turn It over to you." He pnused; Hlondln smoked Impcr-turbubly. Impcr-turbubly. "The marriage must be a notorious one, In nny case," Illchnrd pursued. "For I intend to make my stand too clenr ever to permit of u retraction. I shnll forbid It let tho world know that I forbid it. I shall forbid my daughter the house, and her wedding gift will be simply the clothes she happens hap-pens to hnve. From Tuesday her eighteenth birthday she will turn to you for her actunl pocket money, for her thenter tickets nnd cab fares." "I understand thnt perfectly!" Iloynl snld, serenely. Hut underneath, while not moved from his Intention, Uo felt his customary assurance shaken. "She Is oxtrnvngunt, naturally," her father said. "She will wnnt new gowns, want to display her new Importance Im-portance u little. Those bills will come to you, M: Hlondln. All the world will know ns well ns you do that I have washed my bunds of the whole nffalr." Hlondln had no money, nnd lived with nn extravagance that "kept him perpetually worried for money. His credit would receive nn Immcdlnto ns-slstance ns-slstance from n mnrrlugo with Illchnrd Illch-nrd Carter's daughter, to bo sure, but to sustain n credit for three years upon that shadowy footing would he extremely trying. He liked Nlnn ; despite his contempt for the girl, there wns n certain pitying pity-ing affection for her stubborn loyulty mid simplicity. Hut he knew exnetly whnt hideous scenes must follow upon his marriage with her. What could he do with her, even Hupposefhtm to hnvo borrowed money enough to, pinke their honeymoon a success? fa Imnglned her dawdling nbout his studio, Imagined Imag-ined his soclnl standing ns necessarily affected, Imagined Mr. und Mrs. ltoyal Hlondln attempting to reach an agreement agree-ment as to which Invitations would be accepted nnd which rejected. Hallway Hall-way fares, luncheons downtown, all these cost money lots of money. Nina would want to entertain "the girls." And Iloynl hnd at present several serious seri-ous debts. This was not a cheerful outlook with which to begin three years of penniless mntrlmony. ltoyal, suavely smiling, and smoking on the terrace, wondered suddenly If old Madame Carter, who had always been his cIiumi-plon, cIiumi-plon, would help out. Hut Illchard seemed to rend his thought. "Nina has nppenlcd to her grandmother," grand-mother," he snld, "and I know my mother sympathizes, and would he glad to help you. Hut her nffalrs are In my hands. She preferred It ho, when I offered her some securities years ago, und It hns nlways been so, Her bnnk nccount receives u monthly check; she sends nil her household hills to my secretary, Fox. Ho O. K.'s and pays them. Consequently, she Is not able to act In this matter, and I think she Is glnd of HI I believe she Would regret the the Inevitable estrangement as much as I." Itlchard had taken a small slip of tan paper from his pocket, and was studying It thoughtfully. ltoyal saw It, and Ills eyes narrowed. "Now, Mr. Hlondln," Nlnn's father suld, simply, "I'm a business man, I can't beat about tho bush, and call things by pretty names., I want a fuvoi of you. and I'm willing to pay for It. I telephoned you this morning thnt 1 wanted to see you on n mutter of business. This Is my proposition." He leaned forward, and ltoyal saw the jiapur. IIo boasted to women of his .Indifference to money, It was trua, but as with" nil adventure, It held first place In his Lhuuuhts. N.o man who was In debt could look upon thnt check unmoved, Royal might win at cards tonight, to be sure; Carter might weaken tomorrow, It wntt true. Hut this check bore his name, and It was sure. To enter the bank, with Illchnrd Carter's check for so substantia) nn iiinount, to deposit It, exchnnge a careless care-less word with the cashier, to write his check for the overdue rent, with a cnsunl upology; lo piny bridge ngaln, this evening, with young Hellamy, nnd this time win back the accursed check of his own, up he knew he would win It. . . . "Just one moment, Mr. Cnrter. You say that you and I know what mnrrlugo mnr-rlugo Is. How do you reconcile It with your knowledge of Nlnn, your knowledge knowl-edge of her upbringing, to plnn deliberately delib-erately what would make our mnrrlnge or any marriages-foredoomed to failure from the start? I didn't spoil Nhin, I dltln't form her tastes. She has thought of herself, as an heiress, sho has spent money, lived luxuriously. luxurious-ly. I onry ask a fair chance. Mnke It nn nllownnce, If you like. Keep tho matter In the family; don't blnzo to the world tlmt you disapprove I Mnny n less-promising mnrrlngo hns turned out n brilliant success. She loves me. I I tun devoted to her. I see tremendous tre-mendous possibilities In hcrl" "Sho loves you ns n child docs, nnd becnuse she doesn't know you," lllqh-nrd lllqh-nrd snld, Inflexibly. "Hut you hnven't heard whnt I propose, Hlondln. Hear mo out. I glvo you this now, today, on condition thnt before tonight you talk to Nlnn. Iteprescnt anything you wish to her. Tell her whnt you plcnsc. Hut convlnco her thnt sho must wait for two yenrs with no letters, no meetings, no engagement Hint's nil. "On my pnrt, I promise thnt nobody In the world, not Mrs. Cnrter, not nny. body, will henr of this for two years from todny, ut lcnrt. Mennwhllc, we'll nmusc Nlnn. Her grandmother wnnts to tuko her to Snnta Hnrhnrn next full Gnrdlner wnnts both tho youngsters young-sters on his ranch this summer, or sho may go with mo to Hrnzll. She'll hnve enough to think nbout. Weil not hurt you with her, you tuny take my word for It. And I tell you frankly thnt I shall bo deeply grateful. I'm not pay-Ing pay-Ing you forgiving her up. I'm pnylng you for two years' delay. Young Hopper will be nt tho Gnrdlners' this summer she likes him, nnd lio likes her! Well, thut's speculation." Richard dismissed dis-missed It with n movement of his flno hands. "Hut we'll distract hcrl" ho promised. "Hopper may buy n ranch out there thnt sort of thing might suit Nlnn down to tho ground I" "Huy It with Nlnn's money," Iloynl could not help sneering. Illchnrd eyed, him In surprise. "When Joe Hopper died ho left thnt hoy's mother something In tho millions," mil-lions," ho snld. "There's nn Immense estate." And then, with u reversion to business: "Come, now, Mr. Hlondln. Hlon-dln. We understand each other, Nlnn's dining nt the Hellnmys tonight; to-night; you're staying there. Will you see her?" The check fluttered to the table between be-tween thorn. There wns n long silence. Then Hlondln ground out his clgnrctto In a stone saucer, rose, In nil the ensy benuty of Ills white summer clothes, Then He Took the Check and Read It Thoughtfully, his flowing senrf, his dnrk, romantic locks. He lifted his straw hat, put It on, picked up his stick, und laid It on the table. Then he took tho check and read it thoughtfully. "Thank you!" he said. Yet the shameful thing struck him, an adept now In evading nnd lying, as surprisingly surpris-ingly easy, and as ho sauntered away In the .Tune warmth nnd silence, It was not of Nina, or her father, or even of himself that he was thinking. (TO I1K CONTINUED.) |